BARON CUVIER. 95 



had, however, many difficulties to conquer, 

 among which was that of the incredulity of 

 others, who, being ignorant of the laws of or- 

 ganisation, of the necessary co-existence of 

 certain forms, did not comprehend how it was 

 possible to re-establish an animal from the frag- 

 ments of its bones scattered through the layers 

 of the eartli. How he triumphed will be ga- 

 thered from the following extract from a letter 

 written to Dr. Duvernoy, a few days after a 

 meeting in which he had been obliged to dis- 

 cuss some particular objections addressed to 

 him. He thus wrote (1806), — *' They have 

 just brought me the skeleton of an anoplothe- 

 rium, which is almost entire, taken from Mont- 

 martre, and nearly five feet long. All my con- 

 jeclures have been verified, and I find that the 

 animal had a tail, as long and as large as that of 

 a kangaroo, which completes its singularities." 

 For the furtherance of his inspection of the 

 neighbourhood of Paris, M. Cuvier associated 

 the learned geologist, M. Brongniart, with him 

 in his researches, who more particularly con- 

 fined himself to fossil mollusca, and comparative 

 observations concerning other countries. The 

 principal geological result of these inspections 

 was to make known the fresh water deposits 



